A done deal

I spoke to Marcelo last night. Most welcome support and thoughts in the last couple of days from Marcus and all of the book-group boys pointed me to what I already knew. The Slack lads had useful contributions in the same direction too, although their reasoning was not quite the same as that of Marcus, Chris, Ed, Ian and Jason. I told him that Joanne's handed her notice in, our flights are booked, our flat is sold, and we've organised accommodation in Christchurch. All of that, and the fact that I would be negligent in my duty as a husband to let Joanne go and move to the other side of the world without me led to my decision to decline his invitation to extend my employ until end-Sep or whenever. I think he understood my reasoning, and maybe even respected me for it. So we're still on for July 23rd. And the leaving do on the 14th won't feel like a cheat either.

Something that came up after the meeting was interesting though. Marcelo came over and told me that he doesn't think he'll be able to get a replacement sorted for before I go now. As a result he'd like me to keep in the back of my mind the idea of them flying me back here at some point for a proper handover. I said I'd definitely be open to discussing it at a later date. Thing is, the way I see it, it's a free option for me. If I get a job in NZ then I won't be able to come back. And if I struggle to find a job down there then I have the option of getting paid in sterling for a month once we're a bit more settled in Christchurch. Jo pointed out the airmiles. Shep pointed out the consultancy rates.

And speaking of jobs, Leigh from Debbie Graham Associates (another employment agent) sent me an email this morning trying to persuade me to move to Auckland and asking if I'd consider transferring my skills to equities. I replied saying Auckland was a no-go but I'll definitely consider any role. She's going to forward my CV to her Christchurch associate. So now I have DGA looking for stuff for me, the people at Hudson (still waiting to hear about the Telecom job, although my CV was only sent to them yesterday) and there was the comeback about the Equities Analyst advertised through Sheffield. I am definitely encouraged that there are jobs to apply for.

Oh, and in theory Marcelo and I are going to tell No.2, Kirsty, George, Beto and Gatot my news by COB tomorrow. About time really. It's been so hard not being able to tell them anything, especially Trixie and Kirsty. Marcelo is travelling at 5pm tomorrow and out of the office on Friday, and he wants it so that by then the team members of Research in London and the field team co-ordinators all know. We shall see.

7 weeks, 2 days, 3 and a half hours till I finish at ED&F Man.